Trailer Hitch Installation - 2004 Buick Rendezvous

How to Install a Trailer Hitch on a 2004 Buick Rendezvous

Today on this 2004 Buick Rendezvous we will be installing Draw-Tite hitch part number 36425. This installation will also apply for Hidden Hitch part number 90158. We are underneath the vehicle near the bumper, we are looking at the driver side frame rail. As you can see we have two large oblong holes at the end of the frame rail and we are going to be using both of those as attaching points for our trailer hitch. We will be placing carriage bolts and blocks up inside the frame and pulling it back down into position for both of those locations. That is going to be the same on the passenger side as well. If you notice further rearward we have this lip that is attaching the body to the bumper. We are going to be drilling four holes, two per side, to attach the trailer hitch to as well. What we want to do first is put the hardware into the frame, get the hitch up into position, and we will use the hitch as a template to drill those holes out. 00:47

We are going to be using the 1/2 inch carriage bolt along with the one by three inch block at all four of the locations. To get the hardware into position we are going to be using the larger rear most hole as our access hole. What I am going to be using is the bolt leader which we offer at Etrailer.com. This one is 1/2 inch to accommodate the 1/2 inch carriage bolt. Basically that is going to help us pull our hardware into place. We are going to take and feed the bolt leader up through our forward most attaching point and back out the access hole. Next take the block and feed it on to our bolt leader followed by our carriage bolt which we are going to thread the bolt leader on to the end of the carriage bolt. Feed the block up into the frame followed by the carriage bolt and then use the bolt leader to pull it down into position. 01:34

With the bolts snugged up we can drill the holes out using the 3/8 drill bit. With the holes drilled we want to take our 3/ 8 bolts along with our flat washer and them from the bumper side of the vehicles end panel in towards the front of the vehicle. We are going to attach on the other side using the lock washer and hex nut. With those in place we can start torquing the bolts down. I am going to torque the bolts in the end panels first and then we will go back and torque the bolts at the bottom of the frame last. You want to check with the directions to verify the appropriate torque rating for each of the bolts. Now that we have got our hitch installed lets give you a couple of final installed dimensions. From the ground to the top of the receiver tube opening is going to run 13 inches and from the center of the pin hole to clear the rear edge of the bumper is going to be approximately seven inches. Just make sure that if you lowered the exhaust off its rear most hanger earlier that you put that back up. That will conclude the installation of Draw-Tite part number 36425 on a 2004 Buick Rendezvous.